Last Week's Thrifty Moves

It's October!  Holy cow!

Sunday morning I was up really early.  Apparently my body had had enough rest because there was no way I was going be able to sleep in, not that I ever really do, so I got up and got started.  I made myself a fresh pot of coffee and began my day.

Pizza dough ready for the freezer

After meal prepping on Saturday evening I still needed to finish up by making six pizza dough balls for the freezer.  I took my bread machine out of the pantry and got busy making three batches of whole wheat pizza dough.  I divided each batch in two, shaped it into balls and put each one into a sandwich bag labeling it with the date.  I put all of these bags into one larger bag and out to the garage chest freezer they went.  It only took me about 20 minutes to get this done, plus washing up.

I still had that extra 3# package of ground beef in the refrigerator so I decided to make a meatloaf for Sunday supper and six stuffed bell peppers.  I baked them all together at the same time putting two of the peppers into a dish for the refrigerator and the rest of them into freezer containers for later on.  I'll enjoyed the two in the refrigerator for supper throughout the week.  I served up the meatloaf with carrots I roasted in the oven with the meatloaf and peppers as well as a package of cheddar and sour cream Idahoan mashed potatoes.  My kids love them and they don't have a lot of ingredients in them that I need to worry about.  Homemade mashed potatoes are still the best option, however.

This was really good

I also made a gelatin dessert that was a recipe from the 1950s using a large box of lime gelatin and an 8 oz. package of cream cheese.  This was super simple and I think it took me longer to clean my blender than to make the dessert.  It was really delicious too.  I'll share it on my keto blog soon so if you are interested in making it you can find it there.

I was very grateful that I had a meal plan and had prepped everything over the weekend.  I was late getting home from work Monday and when I did get home the girls told me they were starving.  Poor things.  I turned the oven on to 400° and slid the pan of Spanish Rice in before it was even preheated.  While it baked in there for an hour I was able to help the girls with their chores and get a couple things done myself.  They ate dinner and then got to work on their homework and I didn't feel rushed or stressed at all.

The girls enjoyed the Spanish Rice topped with salsa & sour cream

Tuesday night after getting home from picking them up from band and cheer practice it was another easy supper of reheating Sloppy Joe mix while tater tots baked in the oven for 20 minutes.  By the time they got their chores done dinner was on the table and they were pretty darn happy about it too.  Apparently they were starving again.

Sloppy Joes!

Wednesday was leftover Spanish Rice and Thursday was leftover Sloppy Joes which were a quick reheat in the microwave.  Friday morning I pulled out a dough ball and some pizza sauce from the freezer to thaw all day in the refrigerator.  They made themselves a pepperoni pizza for supper and I didn't cook anything.  I enjoyed meat loaf, stuffed bell peppers and taco meat throughout the week with various vegetables and a big salad I had made up on Monday.  It was a very good week of eating.  Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables to add to our meals.

A nice big salad to go with our meals
Tomatoes and cucumber from our garden

Saturday was a day spent as a family just hanging out together.  We watched some movies, visited with friends and just enjoyed a bit of a slow down after a crazy busy week.

The girls mad this pizza

We gave our kitchen scraps and some stale bread to the chickens and they gave us plenty of eggs throughout the week.  Edith and Matilda are molting and not laying at the moment.  They both look pretty scrappy right now too.  But the little girls are keeping us in eggs at the moment.

I made Egg Roll In A Bowl on Saturday

I picked tomatoes and a cucumber from the garden.  I have loads of green tomatoes and I'm hoping our weather holds out for a few more weeks before we get a big frost.  Same with my mums.  They are blooming now and I'm hopeful we get to have them around for a while before it freezes.

I cut back one of our house plants that was getting pretty straggly.  I shared some of the cuttings with a co-worker.

I mended one of our shopping bags that had torn at the grocery store.  Sometimes those cashiers get a little carried away when they are sacking up your groceries.  I was able to stitch the tear closed and then reinforced it with a zig zag stitch.

Not a lot going on this week.  No big projects or anything like that.  Just busy with the kids activities, school and work.  I did get some 2019 planning done this week and I'll be sharing some of that with you before too long.  Next year is going to be a big year for us and loads of activity as well as some changes.

I played with this little darling A LOT last week!

How was your thrifty week?